Kathryn Mathieu begins her third season on Ed Leyden's women's basketball staff in 2021-22, first as an assistant coach. 

Mathieu began her career at Suffolk as a graduate assistant. Alongside working on Leyden's staff, she worked as a facilities manager, handling the day-to-day running of the Ridgeway Building including the Michael and Larry Smith Fitness center and the state-of-the-art varsity weight room, while working towards her Masters of Science in Crime & Justice, which she obtained in December 2020.

Her first season on the bench was a historic one for the blue-and-gold, the last in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) with the transition to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) on the 2020-21 calendar. 

With one goal in mind, capturing the conference crown for the first time in program history, the Rams checked off the first required check to get there, make the postseason tournament, and did so as the fourth seed with an 8-3 league ledger, despite no home court second semester. 

Mathieu was on the sidelines for the longest game in Suffolk’s women’s basketball history, the quarterfinals double overtime thriller with Albertus Magnus. The Rams clung on for the 103-95 victory to reach the semifinals for the third consecutive campaign and 12th straight season.  

GNAC glory was still up for grabs in the semis that sent Suffolk to its Beantown rival Emmanuel two days later. The Rams were in for another back-and-forth battle, but this time came out on the wrong side of the decision to end 18-9 overall and trophy less.    

Despite not reaching its team goals, Jenni-Rose DiCecco and Alexis Hackett hit new heights as individuals. The former, a first-team All-GNAC honoree, became the 15th member of the Suffolk’s 1,000-point club, hitting the feat seven outings into his junior season. The latter, a third-team all-conference selection, followed in DiCecco’s footsteps, reaching the 1K-point mark herself and she became the program’s all-time leader in blocks and boards.   

In 2020-21, Mathieu's second season, Suffolk was able to play in just eight games due to an abbreviated season because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In that stretch the Rams went 7-1. 

Mathieu came to Beacon Hill after a storied career at UMass Boston where she competed for the Beacons from 2014-18 before joining the staff as a student assistant in 2018-19.  

On bench in 2018-19, Mathieu helped UMass to a 17-9 overall mark and a 10-6 league ledger. Along the way the first-year assistant coach helped a pair of Beacons to All-LEC first-team honors and academic accolades as well with eight student-athletes earning spots on the LEC All-Academic team. 

In a Beacons’ jersey, Mathieu is the all-time leader in program history in games played with 109 appearances over four years including 29 games as a senior captain in 2017-18. She was a critical ingredient to three of the most successful seasons in program history. She led Boston to back-to-back conference championship contests as a freshman and sophomores, respectively, before taking home the LEC Title as a senior to punch the Beacons’ ticket to their first-ever NCAA tourney. 

Mathieu wrapped up her four-year career with spots scattered in UMass’ record books including the top spot in three-point field goals made (137). The sharp shooter sits fourth in three-point field goals percentage (.325) and shares 14th for career points (745). 

In December 2018, Mathieu graduated from UMass with dual degrees, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice and Sociology. At Suffolk, she will further her education, working towards a Masters of Education in Higher Administration.